When Lauri Markannen signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the offseason, the chances of him finally making the NBA Playoffs didn’t look particularly good. But then he helped Cleveland to its most regular-season wins since the final year of the second LeBron James era and had his team one win away from getting into the main playoff field.
Despite 26 points from Markannen, though, Cleveland lost 107-101 at home to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, giving Atlanta the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and putting the Cavs into offseason mode.